Category: supervision

“Leaders are not responsible for the job. Leaders are responsible for the people that are responsible for the job.” – Simon Sinek

I believe Sinek’s premise. When you become a supervisor, you inherit not power and perks rather a deep sense of obligation to those under your wing. This sense of responsibility surprises some new supervisors and causes them to realize they could benefit from some help to grow into this new role.

Leaders must learn the content required for their position and the art of supervision itself as well as upping their own personal game to serve as a leader and role model to others. This can take many forms: becoming more conscious of their language, their attire, their social circles or work ethic. Leaders may wish to broaden their knowledge of the field and cultivate a more external focus. They need to develop new networks or acquire a coach to help them navigate tricky situations and politics – all in the name of improving their skills in order to enhance the work of others.

Just like the advice in airplanes where adults need to put on their oxygen mask first before helping others, so a supervisor must work to first strengthen their skill set before they can help others to flourish. What have you done lately to help yourself grow?

I have always been a big believer in the value of meeting with your employees one-to-one. My mantra was that updates could happen informally in the hallway, but for real professional development to take place there needed to be scheduled meetings that went beyond the nuts and bolts of daily operations.

In my supervisor workshops, I frequently encounter supervisors who wonder what there is to talk about if it isn’t about logistical items or tasks. Here is a list of topics that I have shared:

• New skills to develop
• Interests that aren’t being utilized
• Biggest challenges
• Long-term thoughts on what could be done
• Evaluation/debriefing of recent activities
• What changes could be made to the supervisor/supervisee relationship
• What could be stopped/eliminated
• Lessons from something read/listened to/learned lately
• What is good that can be made great
• Feedback/progress since the last evaluation
• What’s the next milestone
• WHY are you doing XYZ
• Why are you NOT doing XYZ
• What do they wish they had the time/resources to do but aren’t
• How is their staff doing/how to help your employee supervise
• The organization’s strategic plan – what is it, how can they tie in
• What is a priority
• How to effectively deploy resources, what resources matter most to them
• Ask: “How can I help you be successful?

I believe there is no better use of your time than to have these types of discussions with those whom you supervise. Make it a priority to meet one-to-one with your staff on a regular (dare I say weekly) basis. Start today by scheduling time on your calendar for this critical capacity-building function.

A recent article predicts that widespread use of autonomous cars is still at least a decade off – in large part because of weather. The cameras and sensors can’t see through snow or rain and they do not know where to go if the lane lines are covered — thus human intervention is required.

It sounded a lot like supervision to me: employees can “drive” on their own if conditions are ideal, the lanes are well marked and the curbs are in place, but when facing unlined roads, challenging weather or unforeseen obstacles, suddenly “autonomous” isn’t appropriate anymore.

As a supervisor, you should work like the researchers and identify situations whereby your “vehicle” can operate with reliability on their own and dedicate extra attention to the conditions that are likely to cause uncertainty and require your intervention. Autonomous may be the goal for cars and for employees, but so far, neither can operate effectively on their own.

Source: Why autonomous cars aren’t coming anytime soon by Tom Krisher for the Associated Press in the Telegraph Herald, February 10, 2019, p. 7D.